A good deal of us have grown accustomed to all the modern tech available today. Which, by the way, we all take for granted. You only need to turn a knob and receive clean, fresh water. In some areas even drinkable. For some, getting access to this kind of water means walking for hours until the nearest source.

The same goes for hot water. Some have to wait and boil some water until they have enough for what they need.

This is just an example. The list of ideas can be expanded to heating and cooling. And also to electricity: flip a switch and the lights turn on. And finally... food. Supermarkets close-by stocked with a huge variety of options. Apps on the phone which bring you a cooked meal at your door in less than an hour. It's amazing if you think about it.

But that's just it. You/we don't think about. We don't slow down and stop to think about this kind of stuff.

With all of this convince at our disposal, perhaps it is too easy to forget how the nature works:

• Where does all this electricity come from?
• How is this water reaching us instantly?

One of the most fascinating lessons that stuck with me during school was called "the circuit of water in nature" (or something like that).

If you do this proposed exercise of stopping or slowing down from the constant running we do each and every minute, you might remember how everything is interconnected. How the products that we use end up influencing the quality of the water that goes down the drain. What happens after that? Sooner or later it reaches into the ground or into a river or lake. The fish that we eat, the plants that we eat or the animals that we consume (who also eat these plants) might end up containing chemicals and small-plastics and such as a direct result of our actions.

Taken individually, this might not be a problem. But there are 7 billion of us (and counting). So it matters.

Taking the time to understand this, means taking the time to figure our how nature works in the first place. Knowing this, takes you closer to nature. Being closer to nature, (re)balances you. Being more centered means being able to make better choices and take better actions. Therefore, you end up being a better human being.

So finding your balance with nature (external action) helps you find balance within (internal action). And the opposite holds true as well.

Perhaps next time you throw away the heavy, stinking cooking oil down the drain you will think twice about it? I know, we have much bigger problems going out right now. But most of the "bigger problems" are not in our control, are they? So we make a big fuss out of nothing. Or without necessarily having an impact. But these small things ARE fully in our control. And making these choices will boost our confidence and will encourage us to do more. To think bigger.

Once we have the courage to dream big, to imagine a beautiful, healthy planet where we live in harmony with nature, that's when we will collectively be better.